I don't watch Rachael as a rule. Not because she doesn't cook great food but more for the fact that she is annoying. When she calls Extra Virgin olive oil EVOO it just drives me bezerk. I know some people find it cute and endearing but I think it's pure laziness that she does this. The morning she was making this recipe I was channel surfing and it caught my attention. I had all the ingredients and was excited to try something new and I was happy I did. Although I didn't have saffron because that stuff is expensive and I just can't justify paying 16 dollars for something I never use. I ended up using a little turmeric for this recipe. I didn't really measure. I just added a little at a time until I got the right taste. I did add just a little paprika for color.

4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and ground black pepper
48 green beans or enough to fill your chicken bundles
2 large red bell peppers, cut into about 30 strips the size of the green beans
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup of chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup cream

Preparation
Budget tip from Rach: Halve the chicken breasts horizontally separating each into 2 cutlets. (Some markets sell “thin cut” chicken for a premium price but with a sharp knife, cutting the chicken breast yourself is easy, so why not save yourself some money!) Place each halved cutlet in an individual freezer plastic storage bag with a slider tab. Add a tablespoon of water to each baggie and pound them into thin cutlets. The baggies can now be stacked and frozen for future use. Each portion will thaw in minutes and ready to use for dinner any night of the week. Plus, by halving and pounding out the breast meat, you’re stretching your dollar and the meat to provide twice as many portions.

For this recipe, arrange 4 cutlets pounded to 1/8 of an inch thick on work surface. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper on one side then lay about 6 or 7 green beans and 4 or 5 red pepper strips in the center, with the ends sticking out. Fold the bottom half of the chicken up around the bundle then roll the two ends around so it looks like a little package with green beans and red pepper sticking out. Season the outside of the chicken with salt and ground black pepper.


In a large, nonstick skillet with two turns of the pan of olive oil over medium-high heat, cook the stuffed cutlets seam side-down. Cook about 7-8 minutes, then turn to brown the other side. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and reserve.


To the pan, add the saffron and ginger then pour in the chicken stock and bring up to a bubble. Stir in the cream and heat through.

My baking skills in general are lacking. I love to do a lot of improvising when it comes to cooking and I've found improvising is a huge drawback in baking. This is why I normally use cake mixes. They are so simple and even I can't screw it up. One night though I was really craving some chocolate cake but I had no cake mix and I wasn't in the mood to go to the store. I decided to try and make a cake from scratch and this time I would be careful to follow the instructions to the letter. I did a search for chocolate cakes and found the Hershey's web site. I knew that if Hershey's has a cake recipe it had to be good and it was. Now I make this recipe all the time. Sometimes chocolate cake makes everything all better.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

My husband hates fish. He hates the look of fish, the taste of fish, the smell of fish, basically he just wont eat fish. In all honesty if I would have known he didn't eat fish before we were married I would have probably called off the wedding. I'm happy that I didn't know this flaw before hand because I love my husband. Anyway.... I love eating fish and after all these years of denying myself such a wonderful source of protein I decided that I was going to make fish once a week no matter what. My husband wasn't happy with this but he said he would try and keep an open mind. When I found this recipe I thought that it was a little too simple but it looked good. By the way I found this recipe on the Paula Deen web site. I guess Bobby is her son and cooks with his mom sometimes. It seems that cooking is a family affair for this family. Now on to the problem I encountered with fish night. My husband knew I was going to be cooking fish and so he decided to go pick up some barbeque for himself before he got home. I was extremely mad. I couldn't believe that he would eat before coming home. He did felt bad after seeing how upset I was. I really loved this recipe and will make it again on fish night and if my husband decided to not eat with us that's his loss.

Butter cooking spray
4 (6 to 8-ounce) tilapia fillets
1 teaspoon SIlly Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, finely grated zest and juice
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large cast iron pan with a nonstick butter spray.

Rinse fish and pat dry; place on the prepared baking sheet. Season each fillet with Silly Salt, cracked pepper, lime zest and lime juice. Add fish to the pan. Place a pat of butter on each fillet and cook in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes.

Yield 4 servings

My friend from Russia came over for dinner and made this salad. It was the best Greek salad I'd had in a long time. We had such fun drinking Greek wine and talking about astrology, she's big into that. My friend moved back to Russia recently and I miss her terribly. she is such a funny character and I just miss hanging out with her.

I love greek salads. They're simple and tasty. Greek foods main seasoning are olives, garlic, lemons and herbs, which I've always been partial to. I'm slowly getting my kids to like this salad and they'll eat it as long as I take it easy on the lemons.


3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic—minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and extra for garnish
3 tomatoes—cut into wedges
¼ red onion—sliced into rings
½ cucumber—sliced into thick half-moons
½ green pepper (capsicum)—julienned
4 oz (120g) feta cheese—cut into small cubes
16 kalamata olives

PLACE the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine. PLACE the salad ingredients in a large bowl. POUR the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving. Garnish the Greek salad with a little freshly ground black pepper.

I was watching Food Networks Throwdown with Bobby Flay; I watch to many cooking shows. Bobby was having a throwdown with Sohui Kim. She has a restaurant in NY and apparently serves the best Chinese style dumpling. I was looking at the recipe and realized that Bobby's was a little more complicated and would require more time than I'm interested in spending, so I went looking for Sohui's recipe. I found what was said to be her recipe and decided that I could definitely try my hand at dumplings. I did use Bobby's dipping sauce because it was more to my liking. I could eat these all day every day they were that good.

Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups hot water
For the dough:

Whisk the flour with the salt and stir in the water until dough is shaggy. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead briefly; dough should be soft and pliable but not too sticky. Rest, covered, while you make the filling and the sauce.

Filling
2 tbsp. canola oil, plus more for frying dumplings

1 cup diced onion

3 tbsp. minced garlic

2 tbsp. minced ginger

1 cup chopped garlic (or Chinese) chives

1 1/2 lbs. ground pork

1 8-oz. package firm tofu

3 tbsp. hoisin sauce


1 egg, beaten and reserved in a small bowl

Salt and pepper to taste


In a large pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, ginger, and garlic chives and cook for 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and let cool. In a large bowl, combine pork, tofu, and hoisin sauce with the chive mixture. Test-fry a small portion of the pork mixture and adjust seasoning.

Flour your work surface lightly and roll the dough, or pieces of it, about 1/8-inch thick (too thin and the dough will tear as you fill the dumplings). Cut out circles with a 3-inch round cutter. Cover the dough with a side towel or piece of plastic wrap as you work. Dip your index finger into the beaten egg and rub it over half of the outer edge of the dumpling. Fold dumpling in half, crimping it in the middle and sealing along the egg-moistened edge, taking care not to leave any air pockets.

Heat a skillet, just large enough to accommodate the number of dumplings you want to cook over high heat. Add a thin coating of oil, heat, then add the dumplings in concentric circles. They should be touching. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown, 3 or 4 minutes (reduce the heat if they are browning too quickly). Add enough water to come about 1/4 of the way up the sides of the dumplings-it will spatter. Cover the skillet, adjust the heat so that the water is simmering, and cook for about 7 minutes. Uncover the skillet and, if there is water left, let it cook off. Check the dumpling bottoms-if they need to brown a bit more, let them, adding a bit more oil if necessary.

Sauce:
1 cup black vinegar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon chili paste
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons freshly chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon freshly chopped Thai basil leaves
1/2 habanero pepper, minced

Ratatouille was perfected in the South of France. It was a meal designed to take advantage of the Sumer vegetables. It's easy to make and it could be served cold as well as warm. The name is derived from the French words ratouiller and tatouiller which are expressive forms of the verb touiller which means to stir up.

I can't remember where I got this recipe from so please forgive me for not giving credit where credit is do. I will say that I found this on a blog somewhere soon after watching the movie Ratatouille. I thought it would be fun to have the kids watch the movie one day and then eat Ratatouille afterwards. The kids loved it. I don't think they would have liked this dish if they hadn't watched the movie though. It was a really nice way to use up my zucchini that is so abundant right now in my kitchen.

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)

1 smallish zucchini

1 smallish yellow squash

1 longish red bell pepper

Few sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish. Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

I'm always trying to find ways to put feta cheese in my food. So when we attended a dinner party at my friend Cindy's house and she served brown rice with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and golden raisins, I thought it would taste even better with feta. I went home and started working on a recipe. I think I could have used a little more feta but the husband and kids seemed to think it turned out just fine the way it was. They aren't as big a fan of feta as I am. I had lots of leftovers which I ended up eating for lunch several days in a row.

2 cups of cooked (steamed) brown rice
3 cups cooked spinach
1 cup of finely chopped green onion
1 cup of seedless golden raisins
1/2 of sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers
5 oz. fat free feta cheese
10 tablespoons Red Wine Vinaigrette


Cook the rice and spinach separately. Set aside and let them cool once they're done. (1 cup of uncooked brown rice yields a little more than 3 cups of cooked rice) In a large bowl, combine rice, spinach, feta, raisins, sun-dried tomatoes(red peppers), green onions, making sure everything is evenly distributed. Add the red wine vinaigrette and continue to stir, ensuring even distribution.